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More Usability in GeneXus Applications with Themes (II)

When defining colors in Themes object classes, we have to consider the emotional response to color and color perception deficiencies of a significant percentage of users. By Jorge Marmion.

Representation

The first representation of the spectrum was proposed by Sir Isaac Newton, who combined colors in a circle. Many variants would come later, but for this work we will use the simplified version.

Emotional response to Color

The emotional response to color depends on the user's cultural context. In Western cultures there is a certain correlation between color and emotional response.

Red: danger, alert, hot, exciting
Blue: masculine, cold, calm, reliable, stable
White: purity, honesty
Pastel: feminine, sensitivity, gentleness
Orange: emotional, positivism, young
Black: density, seriousness, death, authority, power
Pink: feminine, warm, young
Green: nature, comfort, positivism (hope)

Color Perception Deficiencies
Statistics vary, but somewhere between 8% and 20% of the population suffer some sort of color perception deficiency, or color blindness, due to coding abnormalities in the genes responsible for the cone photopigments (located in the X chromosome). As a consequence, these people can perceive colors but at certain wavelengths their perception is altered, and in extreme cases, they can't see any color at all.

The most common form of color blindness is "red-green," and it owes its name to the cones responsible for perceiving that area of the spectrum. This deficiency affects mainly the male population, as they have only one X chromosome. On the other hand, it is less prevalent among women because both X chromosomes would have to be defective for a woman to be affected.

Blue cone deficiencies are rare, and usually associated with much more serious vision disorders.

Whatever the accurate statistic, the fact remains that a significant percentage of users suffer some sort of color perception deficiency. For example, a combination of colors that for you are contrasting may blend together in the eyes of some people, completely losing the desired effect.

In the next edition: factors to consider when defining color or basic colors of transactions or websites.

Jorge Marmion is author and director of the development project of "DB-Examiner", which has been ranked as one of the top 100 applications worldwide by DM Review readers in 1998, 1999, and 2000. The software has been included in the ERWin product suite, and distributed by Computer Associates under the name of "ALLFusion Data Model Validator." Nowadays, Mr. Marmion is the head of the Brazilian Institute of User-Friendliness and Usability (www.ibrau.com.br) and the Latin American Usability Institute (www.ilau.org).

 

 

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Greater Usability for GeneXus Applications Using Themes (I)
Greater Usability of GeneXus Applications with Themes (III)
Greater Usability of GeneXus Applications with Themes (IV)
Usability: Color Blindness on the Web